Truth is, I am not really a big fan of the biography type of movies unless it is about serial killers and also, I am not that thrilled also of musical movies, but I’m Not There would probably my exception since it is about the legendary Bob Dylan.

Let me tell you a little bit about Bob Dylan since this movie is about him and you might as well have the idea of who he is and his influence in the music industry. Bob Dylan was born on May 24, 1941 as Robert Allen Zimmerman. He is an American artist, singer, writer and songwriter. For more than five decades, he has been influential in popular culture and music of which much of his celebrated creations were from the 1960’s.

The lyrics of his songs were a mix of social, literary, political and philosophical influences which are equally different from the already existing pop music conventions and make an appeal to the growing counterculture.

The genre of his songs ranging from country, blues, rock and roll, folk, gospel and rockability to Scottish, Irish folk music and English with a mix of the Great American Songbook and jazz. He was a very accomplished performer and recording artist and this has been the focus of his career, but his greatest contribution would be his talent in writing songs.

Back to “I’m Not There”…

So back to the movie, I’m Not There is a movie that was directed by Todd Haynes and co-written by Oren Moverman, a biographical, musical, drama film that was released in 2007. It was a movie that is inspired by the music and the life of Bob Dylan, the American singer and songwriter.

Six actors portray the various facades of Dylan’s public personality. The following six personas were played by Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw and Marcus Carl Franklin.

An Interesting Storytale

The movie I’m Not There is inspired by the many lives and music of Bob Dylan as the credits in the movie states. It was in 1959 a 12-year-old African-American boy named Marcus Carl Franklin was a traveller and was riding the rails. He introduced himself as Woody Guthrie to the two older hobos he met. He carries around a guitar labelled “This Machine Kills Fascists”.

Woody travels across the country in his desire to become a singer which he later met an African American family where he stayed and taken care of. It was one of the nights that the matron of the family lectured him and so later that nighthe left with a note thanking the family for the hospitality and boarded the freight train.

He was able to fell asleep and be awakened by the thieves attempting to rob him which he was able to get away by jumping off the train and off into the river. A couple found him unconscious, took him into the hospital where he survived.

He was taken into the couple’s home and was taken care of. The couple received a call from juvenile correction centre in Minnesota which Woody escaped. He then leaves and took a train ride to visit the real Woody Guthrie, his idol who is comatose and is slowly dying in the hospital.

Arthur Rimbaud is an artist that is being interrogated and is based on the Dylan of 1964-1965 who nipped the press in boundless interviews. In the interrogation room, he tells people stories and reads prose which looks like he is the narrator of the six stages of the streaming movie.

Then in the online movie there is the fast ascension of Jack Rollins one version of Dylan that focus in the folk era and is narrated by a folk star named Alice basing on Joan Baez. Then there is the Grain of Sand a haunting gospel song “Every Grain of Sand”, where the folk hero is played by actor Robbie Clark. Robbie tells a story about Claire, Dylan’s girlfriend.

The relationship between them became serious until the marriage goes south. Claire catches him with another woman not just once but many times and so Claire left and they had a 50/50 custody of their children.

Jude Quinn is another persona of Bob Dylan which portrays him as a rock singer from the protest singer that he is. This is the unstable side of him, using drugs and talking in obscene languages.

The film also shows, Billy who is based on the Dylan that is withdrew from the public, the older and the seldom-seen Dylan). Billy is the aged loner who lived with his dog Henry. Billy had a lot of flashbacks from his previous memory of what he has been. He was then arrested by authorities, jailed and was able to escape and released a statement towards the end of the free movie.

The film ended with a clip of Bob Dylan from the documentary Eat the document where he played with his harmonica and the film fades away.

Short Review

Upon the release of the hd movie in 2007, it has received a lot of positive responses and a lot of good reviews both from critics and viewers. The film biography is viewed as complex like the topic itself, exhausting because of the changing of characters, 6 characters in fact but very entertaining to watch.

The actors and actress who played the role of Bob Dylan did a very excellent job most especially Cate Blanchett. The director was able to integrate multitude of styles and the editing is continuous.

The only thing that puzzled a lot is that why the different personas of Bob Dylan have different names and his name is not in it when this movie is supposed to be about him.

Summary

The hd online movie, being a biography and musical in nature, plus the fact that it is about the life and music of Bob Dylan, I would give it 4 out of 5. It has all the entertaining factor of a musical and it shows the life of Bob Dylan. Each character was carried out well by the actors and actresses. It was very well performed and nobody fall short of what is expected of them. But I do agree that there are points that it is confusing at some point.

There are different names to each Bob Dylan’s character which contradicts the point of making this a biography about him. Aside from that downside, nevertheless, the on line movie was very entertaining especially those who are a big fan of Bob Dylan’s masterpiece. It is indeed a very good free movie to watch in Megamovies,as it is something fresh and well really get you interested in.

Catherine Elise Blanchett also known as ‘’Cate Blanchett’’ is not only an Australian actress but also a theater director. She was born on May 14, 1969 in Melbourne, Victoria Australia. Her mother, June Gamble is a property developer and Australian teacher while his father Robert Dewitt Blanchett Jr is an advertising executive from Texas who died when Cate was just 10 years old. They were three in the family and she was the middle child, having an older brother who works in the computer industry and a younger sister who is a theater designer.

In 1997, she married the writer Andrew Upton. Cate met Andrew in a year earlier and it was in a movie set. They didn’t like each other at that time as they had different bad impressions towards each other in party and they were connected in an instant.

Cate had an early passion for music and drama. She was the school drama captain when she was attending Melbourne’s Methodist Ladies College and she appeared in several shows like The Odyssey of Runyon Jones and amazingly, she even directed a production for her fellow students. She then moved on to study Fine Arts and Economics in Melbourne University.

From there, she left and travelled to many places before she pursue a career. Cate was a graduate of Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992 when she returned to her homeland and worked hand in hand with the Sydney Theater after she decided to pursue a career in theater.

Filmography

Because of her love for theater and acting, Cate Blanchett pursued her career and made her own name in the movie industry. Cate Blanchett was known to be the only Australian women who won 2 Oscar Awards. In 1993, Cate Blanchettwas awarded by the Sydney Theater Critics Circle with New Comer Award in her performance in ‘’Kafka Dances’’. Her second was the Best Actress award by the Rosemont in her performance in ‘’Oleana’’ from the Sydney Theater Company.

In 1994, she landed as a co-star in ABC’s primetime drama ‘’Heartland’’ which made her shine more in her acting career. Her success didn’t stop there as it continues to grow and for her role as Ophelia, from the production of “Hamlet”, the Belvoir Street Theatre Company, tossed her up for the nomination for the Best Female performance.

In 1997, production of “Hamlet” made her film debut from the movie Paradise road after she starred in several films like G.P. in 1989, Police Rescue in 1994 and Bordertown in 1995. Cate got married before she fly to England to fulfil her role in the movie ‘’Elizabeth’’ where she received so many praises and received several awards. In 1999, she was chosen by People Magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.

2001 was a fruitful and busy year for Cate as she played a role in several films including Charlotte Gray, The Shipping news, and Lord of the Rings are also in the same year that her first child was born.

It was found out from an interview that she accepted her role as the Elf Queen from the film ‘’Lord of the Rings’’ because she always wanted to play a role in a movie wearing pointed ears. She gave birth to her second child in 2004 and in the same year, she won the Best Supporting Actress inthe AcademyAward for her role from the movie ‘’Aviator’’.

In 2005, she won the Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor for her performance in “HeddaGabler. In the year 2006, she received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for the movie ‘’Notes on a Scandal’ and in 2007, she came back for her role in the movie ‘’Elizabeth: The Golden Age and in this film, she earned a Best Actress nomination for Oscars.

Cate Blanchet ‘Avalanche’

It did not stop there because on the same year, she also received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for the film ‘’I’m Not There’’ and in December of the same year, she ranked #45 of The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood by EW, and a year after that, her 3rd child was born.

They then decided to raise their children in Australia and be a part of Sydney Theatre Company as artistic directors.

Because she chose to spend more time in Australia with her family, her work in the movie industry became irregular until the year 2013 where she played a lead role in the film ‘’Blue jasmine’’ which made her won the Academy Award as Best Actress.

She then resigned in Sydney Theatre Company and her husband also resigned 2 years after. They sold their abode in Australia and transfer to America and she then continued with her acting career and became one of the big names in the movie industry.

It was in the 2nd of January 1961 in Los Angeles when Todd Haynes was born, he then grew up in the nearby town called Encino. His parents were Allen E. Haynes and Sherry Lyne. His father was an importer in cosmetics and his mother studied acting and has a short appearance in the movie I’m Not There.

Haynes is Jewish based on his mother’s side. His younger sister is a member of the band Sophe Lux and is named Gwynneth Haynes.

At an early age, Todd Haynes developed an interest in the film and have produced a short film. He was still in high school when he released The Suicide in 1978.b

He directed his first short film in 1985 which was inspired by the French poet Arthur Rimbaud entitled, Assassins: A Film Concerning Rimbaud. He was studying semiotics at Brown University at this time. Arthur Rimbaud is one of the personalities Haynes referred in his film I’m Not There.

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He met Christine Vachon at Brown University who then produce all the films he featured. Haynes moved to New York City after he graduated with a BA in Arts and Semiotics and then he became involved in the independent film scene. He also launched Apparatus Productions which is a non-profit organization supporting the independent film.

It is no secret to the public that Haynes is gay and as of 2015 he is living in Portland, Oregon. Todd Haynes Interviews is an edited book of personal interviews which was published in 2014.

Themes and Styles

Haynes did not identify himself as a filmmaker who is gay and make gay films but his persona was tantamount with the movement of the New Queer Cinema. This being said is both to redefine and explore the contours of the America’s queer culture and beyond. The movies that he wrote, all of it is known to be provoking films that undermine narrative structure and resonate with transgressive, multifaceted eroticism.

Haynes masterpieces are mostly ideas from postmodernist of sexuality and identity as concepts constructed socially and the personal identity as a fluid and in the state that it is changeable.

In the world of Haynes, sexuality with special mention to unconventional sexuality or sexual deviancy, it is a dangerous and subversive force that upsets the social norms. This is most of the time brutally blocked by the dominant power structures.

His films often feature narrative devices or formal cinematic that test the accepted philosophies of sexuality and identity and remind the viewers of the artificiality of the film as a medium. His style favoured the formalism versus naturalism frequently reinventing and appropriating cinematic styles.

Filmography

1987- While he was still an MFA student at Bard College, he used Barbie dolls as actors and made a short ‘Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story’ which narrates the life of American pop singer.

1991- Haynes features a debut film ‘Poison’ which got him praises and controversy. This is also his first collaboration with Christine Vachon, his long-time producer.

1993- This is Haynes short film entitled ‘Dottie Gets Spanked’ which involves his TV sitcom idol named Dottie.

1995- Safe, which was Haynes second feature film which was an acclaimed portrait of Carol White a San Fernando Valley housewife. In this movie, she developed violent allergies to her existence in the middle-class suburban.

1998- The next feature is Velvet Goldmine in which Haynes took a radical shift in his direction where he revels in the identity and gender experimentation and fashionable bisexuality at that time.

2002- ‘Far from Heaven’ was released and this was Haynes greatest commercial and critical success.

2007- Hayne’s next film is ‘I’m Not There’ which portrays the life and music of the legend Bob Dylan.

2010- Mildred Pierce was Hayne’s next project which is an HBO five-hour miniseries.

2015- Carol is Hayne’s sixth feature film which is an adaptation of the 1952 novel ‘The Price of Salt’.

Awards

He won the Berlin International Film Festival Award and Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prizeb- Dramatic for the movie ‘’Poison’’.
He won the Seattle International Film Festival American Independent Award for the movie ‘’Safe’’.

For the movie ‘’Far from Heaven’’, he won the Best Director Award from Independent Spirit, New York Film Critics Circle and Provincetown International Film Festival Filmmaker on the Edge Award.

For the movie ‘’I’m not there’’, he won the Independent Spirit Ward, Robert Altman Award.

For the movie ‘’Carol’’, he won the Best Director Wards from the Boston Society of Film Critics Award, National Society of Film Critics Award, New York Film Critics Circle Award and Toronto Film Critics Association Award. Also, was a runner-up Critics Association Award for Best Director.
Aside from these, he also had a lot of nominations and other awards from his released movies.

Christian Charles Philip Bale or also known as Christian Bale was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK on the 30th of January 1974 and he is now 43 years old.

He was born in UK but he and his family lived in several places since he was a child but he has a fluent American accent. With regards to his parents and siblings, his father was a pilot, his mother works in a circus as a performer and he has three sisters and one of them is also in the movie industry and she was the one who introduced him to acting.

His father died in December 2003 due to brain lymphoma and this happening made him question himself if he will continue with his acting career or not. Since he was young, he already ambitioned to be an actor but was convinced by his parents to take another path.

When he was growing up, one of his favorite things to do was to play video games and super Mario. His wife Sibi Blazic was Winona Ryder’s personal assistant. He became a father at the age of 31. Despite his success in his acting career, he still spends time to charities and not to mention being active to several organizations.

When you ask about his skills and hobbies aside from acting, you would find out that he is a great horseman; he loves reading and he love animals but doing interviews was one of his dislikes.

His pets which are cats and dogs were stray animals that he decided to take care of.

Christian Bale has relatives and siblings that were also into acting and is in the movie industry.

Filmography

When you talk about achievements in his acting career, then he has a lot. Christian Bale is a multi-nominated and multi-awarded actor.

The very first acting job that he landed to was in the year 1983 in a cereal commercial and lucky for him, he landed to another role the following year. In the year 1986, Christian Bale had a role in the NBC series which is the ‘Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna’ and from that series, he caught the attention of Steven Spielberg landing him a role in the Empire of the Sun the following year and he ended up having a special award for his role.

Christian Bale had difficulty adjusting and once thought of quitting on his growing career but he didn’t quit with his career and had a lot of projects along the way.

Christian Bale continues into the next decade but still on the fire on his acting career and landed up with a lead role in the movie American Psycho in the year 2000. Aside from that, he also made it to the movies: ‘Shaft’ in 2000, ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ in 2001, ‘Laurel Canyon’, ‘Equilibrium and Reign of Fire’ in 2002, ‘I’m Not There‘ and ‘The Machinist’ in 20014.

For the movie ‘The Machinist’ in 2003, Bale surprised everyone due to his physical transformation for his role where he lost more than 60 pounds with a nutritionist to guide him only eating fruits and vegetables and drinking lattes and resulted to insomnia that he suffered for a year and because of this sacrifice and willingness to change his physical self for a movie, it was decided to cast him in the movie Batman Begins in 2005.

The succeeding years have been great for Christian Bale as he was able to continue with his career successfully and was able to be a part of several movies which makes him grow as an actor.

When you talk about his roles, you can see that he often plays obsessive or recluse characters and you cannot deny the fact that he is very dedicated to his roles physically and mentally as you can see changes in him as he portray different roles.

He has garnered a lot of nominations and awards in different categories and it was shown that out of 80 nominations, he was able to win 64 out pf them. You can truly say that Christian Bale is a winner not only in his acting career but also in his personal life.